Run game reverts to atrocious early form

So much for the ground and pound.

While the Giants were able to cover for their injury-depleted receiving corps by producing its best rushing attack of the season in last weekend’s win over the Broncos, the run game regressed to early-season form in Sunday’s 24-7 loss to the Seahawks, amassing just 46 yards on 17 carries.

Coming off a career-high 117-yard performance, running back Orleans Darkwa was limited to 35 yards on nine carries, while rookie Wayne Gallman added 15 yards on five attempts. Paul Perkins (ribs) missed his third straight game.

“We just didn’t have those big-shot runs like we did last week,” Darkwa said. “I guess they were ready for it, but at the same time, we just got to do better as an offense.

“Sometimes those 2-3-yard gains kind of add up and you hope for the big play down the road, but I guess we weren’t able to get that. ... As an offense, we got to put points on the board. It’s simple and plain. So I think with the bye week coming up, we got to look ourselves in the mirror and figure out what we do well, figure out what we do bad and kind of improve from there.”

Despite facing the league’s 26th-ranked run defense, Eli Manning attempted 39 passes — after throwing 19 last week — with offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan calling plays for the second straight week.

“We needed to run the ball better,” coach Ben McAdoo said. “I was fine with the way the game was called.”

After averaging less than 50 yards rushing in the first three games, the Giants had averaged 130.3 yards rushing in their previous three games, running for 148 yards on a season-high 32 carries last week.

In their latest loss, the Giants ended up with their second-worst rushing mark of the season, following the 12-carry, 35-yard effort in the season-opening loss to the Cowboys.